What’s Going On In Foxboro?

The past week has been a crazy one for Foxboro with the news of Julian Edelman’s potential suspension and the rumors of a Rob Gronkowski trade. On the heels of a tumultuous 2017 season and a heartbreaking and confusing Super Bowl defeat, things in New England seem to be a mess right now.

Julian Edelman was reportedly suspended for four games by the NFL for violating the league’s PED policy. His suspension is currently under appeal. Despite the connotation of “Performance-Enhancing Drugs”, any illegal substance that Edelman took was likely in relation to his recovery from his torn ACL suffered last preseason. Even if his appeal goes well and the NFL reduces the suspension, he is still likely to miss at least two games. This will be difficult for both the team and Edelman himself. The offense will gel less over the first few weeks in Edelman’s absence, and it will be longer before Edelman is back to game speed. The silver lining is that it gives the star receiver more recovery time to ensure that he is back to 100%.

In addition to the Edelman news, Friday saw the spread of a trade rumor involving Rob Gronkowski. Boston sports media ignited with the news, speculating about the potential return and the motive behind the trade. Although the Patriots would later completely deny that there was any trade talk at all, it is still concerning that information like this is being spread or leaked. The Patriots have certainly never shied away from getting rid of star players, but moving Gronkowski at this point in time would make absolutely no sense, despite his absence from OTAs.

These issues are just a perfect example of the strange year that the Patriots have had, and are not a good sign for things going forward. Information has been leaking out of Foxboro at an unprecedented pace, and whether it’s true or not, it is a stark change of pace after 17 years of Fort Knox-level security.